Percy reads Annabel Lee
by Alexanderj
Summary: Percy reads the poem "Annabel Lee," by Edgar Allan Poe, in English class and it reminds him of Annabeth. Annabeth, whom Percy loved with all his heart. Annabeth, who died during the Second Giant War two months ago.


Annabel Lee

Percy reads the poem "Annabel Lee," by Edgar Allan Poe, in English class and it reminds him of Annabeth. Annabeth, whom Percy loved with all his heart. Annabeth, who died during the Second Giant War two months ago.

Percy's POV

Percy is sitting in his usual seat, in the back of the classroom, waiting for class to begin. To all the world, it is just another ordinary day. But for Percy, this day is anything but. In fact, it's one of the worst days of his life. It was exactly two months prior when the unthinkable happened: Annabeth died. That day, is the two month anniversary of her death.

Not long ago, if someone had asked Percy to choose one person whom he did not think he could live without, he would not have hesitated to say Annabeth Chase. And, in a way he would have been right. After all, although he wasn't technically dead, he wasn't really alive either. He ate, and he slept, and he even went to school and hung out with friends, but his heart wasn't really in any of it. How could it be, when two months ago it had been smashed to pieces, leaving a gaping hole in its place? A hole so deep that he could feel physical pain in his chest when he thought about her. And all he really did anymore was think about Annabeth, and all the time he spent with her, and how he would never get to see her again.

So that is what he's doing when the teacher, Mr. Miles, walks into the room carrying a stack of papers. And that is still what he's doing when all the other students shuffle into their seats so class could start. And that is still what he's doing when Mr. Miles passes out the papers, putting one thin white sheet on each student's desk.

So it's no wonder, really, that when Percy sees the words Annabel Lee printed in big bold letters at the top of the paper, he's almost unable to stop himself from crying. He feels another pang in his chest.

"Okay class, we are reading and discussing the poem 'Annabel Lee,' by Edgar Allan Poe today. Please read quietly to yourselves and look up when you're done." Mr. Miles is a pretty fair and understanding teacher and most of the students like him. On top of that, he is also very young so he can relate to many of the eleventh-graders. So most of the students, including Percy, like him and respect him.

That's why, as Percy is slowly reading the poem, trying desperately to decipher the floating and spinning words, the class is so quiet one could hear a pin drop. And that is also why, when Percy lets out a little sniffle as he's reading, the entire class hears it and turns to look at him. But Percy doesn't notice. He just keeps reading.

"Back to your papers" Mr. Miles instructs.

After getting over the initial shock of the name _so _similar to _Annabeth_, Percy continues reading, taking longer than the rest of the class because of his dyslexia, and finding it painfully ironic that the setting of the poem is a kingdom by the sea.

Soon, the rest of the class is done reading and starts asking questions when Percy interrupts them. "Wait…I'm not done yet." Percy requests, not taking his eyes off the page. He's embarrassed to hear his voice crack, and everyone turns back towards him. But surprisingly they keep quiet.

Percy continues to read and tears fall down his face when he realizes that the girl in the poem dies, reminding him even more of Annabeth's death. The pain in his chest is almost unbearable now. And then he reads that she was buried in the ocean, and that the man can't sleep at night because he is thinking about her, and that he still loves her deeply, and Percy thinks this must be some cruel joke that the fates are playing on him for some unknown reason. The pain is so strong now that he nearly starts screaming in agony. He can't hold back the sobs any longer.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class is just staring at him in utter shock and confusion. Here is Percy Jackson, completely ripped, captain of the swimming team, and one of the toughest guys in school, sitting in the middle of English class, crying his eyes out.

"Umm…Percy…" Mr. Miles decides to say something before any of the students get over their shock and tease Percy or something. That could end up a disaster. "…are you…okay?"

Percy stops crying and looks up at him.

"Do you…do you want to…do you want to talk about it?" Mr. Miles can't believe he's having this conversation with a junior boy in the middle of English class. _And all we did was read a poem? I mean, it was a pretty sad one, but, really? I didn't think it was that bad._

Percy takes a few deep breaths before speaking. "It's just…" he says with a sniffle "…why?" Mr. Miles—and the rest of class—looks at him questioningly. "Why did he have to make her die?" Percy elaborates, "The author I mean. Why did the author have to make her die?"

"I don't know Percy." Mr. Miles responds truthfully, "Maybe he was sad?" "But why does that bother you so much? We've read tons of stories in which characters have died. Why does this one bother you in particular?"

"And why couldn't he save her? The man in the story I mean." Percy ignores the question. "If he really loved her so much he should have been able to save her." A few more tears escaped from his eyes.

Mr. Miles gets the feeling that the conversation isn't really about a fictional character anymore. But then thinks that's ridiculous. What could this kid possibly know about things like love and death? "Well, Percy, sometimes no matter how much you love someone, bad things still happen to them. Everyone has to die sometime. Maybe it was just her time."

"But—"

"Percy, have you ever been in love?" Mr. Miles asks, fully expecting the answer to be no. As far as he knew, Percy never even had a girlfriend. At least, he never dated anyone at Goode. Enough of the girls had complained about _that_ little fact. Some people even thought he was gay.

"Yeah" Percy is surprised by the question—almost as surprised as Mr. Miles is by the answer—and instantly starts to think of her again. This time though, he doesn't see the happy memories. Rather, he sees the image of her death replay in his mind over and over again. He wipes a few tears from his cheek. "Her name was Annabeth."

All the air is sucked out of the room, as every other person there gasps at the same time. Suddenly, they all understand why he is crying. Heck, a few of the girls even start to cry themselves.

"Oh my god, Percy. I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Mr. Miles looks back at Percy, and it's as if he's seeing him for the first time. Everything makes sense now. _No wonder Percy's crying._ He would be crying too. "I don't want to pressure you or anything, and I know it's none of my business, but do you want to tell us what happened? If you don't want to that's okay…I just thought maybe—"

"No, it's okay. Thank you. I think it would be good for me to talk about it." Percy interrupts him, forcing a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Okay, so how about we start with this. When did it happen?" Mr. Miles can't understand how his eleventh grade English class somehow turned into a therapy session for one of the students, with the rest of the class listening in silently, but there were a lot of things the young teacher didn't understand.

"Two months ago today"

A wave of guilt washes over Mr. Miles as he realizes that Percy is probably still grieving and that he probably just rubbed salt in the wound with that day's poetry assignment. But really, what were the odds? Annabel Lee/Annabeth. Could the names be _any_ more similar?

He pauses for a moment, giving Percy a little time to recover, before asking, "how did it happen?"

Percy can't very well tell him that she was stabbed from behind by a twenty foot tall giant in the middle of a battle to save mankind, so he comes up with the closest answer that people would believe. "She was killed in a mugging."

Everyone gasps again.

"I was with her when it happened." Percy continues, the tears falling freely now. This is his first time talking about it, and it's extremely difficult for him. "We were on vacation in Greece; it was a camp field trip. The two of us went for a walk and we got caught in the rain so we decided to take a shortcut back to the hotel. Out of nowhere, this guy jumps us and…" Percy chokes out another few sobs before calming down and taking a few deep breaths. "…grabs her from behind." Percy continues through his sobs. "She screams and…" he takes another few moments to calm down again. "…and he stabs her in the stomach and runs away. She bled to death in my arms."

Half the class is crying now as Percy finishes his story. Even the toughest jocks are a little misty-eyed. Nobody is joking or teasing. Mr. Miles is just too stunned to speak. When Percy asked why the guy in the poem couldn't save the girl he loved, he was probably thinking about himself. He probably blames himself for not being able to protect her.

Just then the bell rings, signaling the end of the day. The rest of the class files out slowly, but Percy stays behind. He is so lost in memories, that he doesn't even realize that school is over and that he can to home. He just sits there until the teacher puts his hand on his shoulders jolting him back to reality.

"Are you okay?"

Percy just nods and walks towards the door, stuffing his books in his bag. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

Mr. Miles just watches him go. The class went nothing like he thought it would, but he thinks that they all might have learned a much more valuable lesson. This was one day he would never forget.


End file.
